Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-08-31

utdI LiuQ6U, ueScf1O0Q IN B 1OImef 1ettef,
Except that this is better state Of repair.
There are no tapestries, but the .frescoes
are'perfectly grand, and the floors are of
such exquisite inlaid work, as to make 1t
appear like sacrileee to walk upon them.
Some of the walls are finished in bas-relief
columns that support galleries and ceilings
are of richly mottled marble
The throne room where the regent gives
audience, is lined on each side with statues
of the male ancestors of the ruling dynasty.
They are lfe-size, cost from cannon cap
tured from the Greeks, and are heavily
FURNISHED with gold. The throne itself IS
not to be sneezed at, and for once in my
life sat where kings are accustomed to re-
ceive their petitioners. There Is one other
room here that deserves especial mention
for the reason that 1t is the most gorgeous
bedchamber any of us had ever seen,
and because 1t was occupied by Napoleon
the Great, and Is just as he left It. The
bed he slept on with coverings and canopy
is rated as the. finest In the world! Il cost
one hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars and required the labor of forty
people, ten years to complete 1t. The
chairs and safe correspond with the bed in
all respects. There is another room called
the Hall of Charlemage which contains
frescoes, difficult to distinguish from oil
paintings 1t Is said that no such frescoes
have ever been produced elsewhere There
are SO many rooms filled with pictures, fres-
Goes, and bric-a brac that might Just as
well stop right here in my description and
leave the balance to your Imagination.
The gallery contains the paintings of the
old masters, Is very very fine and the best
arranged as to classification and with the
best catalogue have ye. seen. There are
fourteen pictures by Alt srt Durer whowas
born in Muremburg 1471 and died in that
city 1928. "The Death of Lucrece" was
the one painting of this collection that
struck my fancy, particularly as / mad had
| an opportunity to compare works by two
other noted artists on the same subject and
could not help but notice the superiority
of Durers work. Then are by the Dutch
painter Rembrandt, who was born in Ly-
den 1907 and died in Amsterdam 1859.
''The Entombment" and s'The Sac
rifce Of Isaac" are considered among
his best. l counted no less than
IS pictures by Ruben, who was born at
S1gen, in county Nassau, 1877, and died at
| Antwerp 1910. His best paintings here
are '"The Rape by Castor and Pollux,"
"Christ Enthroned Upon the Clouds, "The
Fall of the Damned" end ''The Last Judg-
ment."
There are five by Raphael, born in Ur-
bino, Italy, 1883, died In Rome 1920. His
pictures of the "Holy Family" is perhaps
the best in this collection.
All together there are 1443 paintings in
this collection, and / know of nothing
more pleesurable than to spend good por-
ton of day viewing the authenticated
works of the greatest artists of their day
and generation, and perhaps of all genera
tons that follow after them. as they are ex.
posed to view in this well appointed gal.
lery, known as the Old Pinakothek, of
Munich.
The other gallery, distinguished as the
New Royal Pinakothek, stands as q mon
ument to the liberality of King Lewis I,
who bore the entire expense of the building
from his private purse. being sum equal
to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
A great patron of art, he spent fortune in
collecting the best modern works for this
gallery. Leaving out groups of small pic
lures, there are approximately 500 Some
of great dimensions here exhibited, I shell
call your attention briefly, but to two or
three of the rarest gems and then hurry on
to conclusion.
On canvas of immense proportions is
painting of the Deluge by Karl Schorn,
who died at Munich In 1850, leaving the
lower and least important part of the pic
ture unfinished. No painting by Rubens,
and I have seen nearly all the masterpieces
of this great artist, so enchained my at
tention es the awful grandeur of the scene
where the last remnant of the race save the
eight souls floating away serenely in the
ark OF safety, led forlorn hope up the
ragged sides of the last pinnacle of the
tallest mountain, and as the ang1y waves
OF the ever-advancing flood surged closer
and closer about their feet, the stronger
overriding the weak-fne illustrations of |
the survival of the fittest, struggled to the |
top only to meet their fate. The artist has |
well portrayed the passions Of man in such |
an emergency-fear, hate and despair. |
After that picture l don't care for word |
painting, and l never want to hear another
sermon on the Deluge. After feast with
the gods the soul abhors mediocrity.
have not intended to give undue prom
inence to this picture over one of equal
merit, and considered by some greater,
painted by Welhelm Kaulbach, who died
LII 1CS1. LILO u ne Oc-
struction of Jerusalem by Titus
Raphael, Rubens, Van Dyck and others
might have had the genius to produce
finer production of such scene than Kaul-
bauch. You have heard the irreverent
chestnut that "God might have created a
better species of fruit than the strawberry,
but He never did," So with the picture
In question. 1t is partly historical and
partly allegorical, but the two are blended
to accord with prophecy, aud If time per
mitted I should like to 90 further into
detail My wife says when I get mashed"
on painting l want everybody else to see
1t with my eyes.
The third one Of the large paintings is
"Thusnelda In the triumphal procession of
by Karl Won Piloty who
died at Munich about one year ago. 1t is
Of historical character portraying the
frmness and courage of the German
princess, who was betrayed by her own
father, Segestus, into the hands of the
great Roman General Germanicus.
I paid my respects to only one of the
churches in Munich and then merely to see
the three great ..frescoes executed expressly
for Ludwig's church by Peter Cornelius.
One of the side altar pictures represented {
the Roman soldiers throwing dice for our
Sayiors vesture. One version says they'c cast
Iots," but as that language fails to
describe the mode. it never occurred |
to me before that the little cubes of bone
Or ivory with black dots, In common use
nowadays where chance Is the umpire,
dated back to period so remote, but one
must live and learn.
From this church we drove to the Gate